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Mr.  Chainuan  ;  It  is  now,  I  believe,  about  l\)iir  weeks  since  the  House  resolved  itself  into  a  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Whole  upon  this  bill ;  and  during  all  that  time,  day  after  day,  and  night  after  night,  I 
have  been  a  silent  but  attentive  looker  on  in  this  unrivalled  scene  of  contention.  The  first  two 
days  of  the  discussion  convinced  me,  sir,  that  we  of  the  Op{)osition  could  propose  no  amendment, 
use  no  argument,  which  would  in  the  slightest  degree  affect  the  determination  of  the  majority  to 
pass  the  bill  in  the  form  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  It  required  no  stretch 
of  intellect  to  perceive  that  the  order  had  gone  forth  to  vote  down  every  proposition  of  the  minor¬ 
ity  ;  and,  sir,  up  to  this  hour,  that  order  has  been  most  implicitly  obeyed.  It  comports  not  with 
my  taste  to  describe  the  tumult,  the  legislative  depravity,  the  utter  recklessness,  which  1  have  here 
witnessed.  It  has  been  but  a  continuatiun  of  the  disgraceful  scene  wdth  which  our- sitting  open¬ 
ed  ;  and  it  is  now  lamentably  palpable  that  a  Congress  which  commenced  in  revolution,  riot,  and 
anarchy,  must  terminate  in  disorder  and  disgrace.  Nothing  beneficial  to  the  people  need  be  ex¬ 
pected  ;  for  this  Hall,  wdiich  was  intended  for  deliberation,  for  discussion,  for  legislative  action,  is 
converted  into  a  mere  arena  for  the  display  of  the  gladiatorial  feelicg  of  party.  With  every  feel¬ 
ing  of  my  heart,  I  respond  to  the  language  of  my  honorable  friend  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Botts,) 
when,  on  a  former  occasion,  he  said,  “I  wish  to  God,  from  my  very  heart  and  soul,  that  our 
constituents,  especially  such  of  them  as  are  friendly  to  this  Administration,  were  thronging  our 
galleries.”  Yes,  sir,  they  wmuld  soon  see  who  it  is  that  has  caused  Congress  to  become  a  by- 
v/ord  and  a  reproach.  Who,  sir,  is  accountable  for  these  scenes  and  for  this  delay  of  the  public 
business!  Who,  sir,  is  chargeable  with  introducing  and  suffering  this  unparliamentary  and  un¬ 
profitable  discussion  1  Sir,  the  countenances  of  the  prominent  Administration  members  give  the 
reluctant  answer.  They  know  that  they  commenced  and  prosecuted  this  partisan  debate.  They 
cannot  deny  that  they  encouraged  it.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Duncan)  knows  that  hr> 
commenced  it.  If  I  do  him  injustice  by  this  accusation,  he  or  any  of  his  friends  may  correct  me. 
No,  sir,  it  cannot  be  denied.  Without  the  slightest  provocation,  and  without  one  word  having 
been  said  by  the  Opposition  on  the  subject,  he,  for  one  whole  day,  violently  assailed  the  character 
of  General  Harrison  ;  exhibited  caricatures — vile  filthy  daubs,  manufactured  by  his  own  party  for 
political  effect;  disgusted  and  fatigued  us  with  the  execrable  rhymes  of  some  wretched  “ballad- 
monger;”  read  scraps  from  outcast  newspapers,  which  until  now  w^ere  rotting  in  the  oblivion  to 
which  they  were  long  since  consigned  by  the  universal  consent  of  all  decent  men.  Sir,  for  days 
the  friends  of  the  Administration  inflicted  upon  us  the  same  stale,  stereotyped  speeches,  which 
have  served  their  purposes,  in  every  need,  for  the  last  few  years.  The  “anti-bank,”  “anti-mo¬ 
nopoly,”  “anti-associated-wealth”  speech  was  recited  by  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  (Mr.  Wel- 
LKK  ;)  and  1  mean  no  disrespect  to  the  gentleman  when  I  say  that  I  have  unhappily  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  listen  to  that  speech  upon  at  least  one  hundred  different  occasions.  I  hope,  most  sin¬ 
cerely  hope,  that  I  have,  heard  it  for  the  last  time.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Pab- 
menter)  broached  another  favorite  theme  of  the  Administration,  making  known  his  horror  of 
the  Hartford  Convention ;  and  on  this  interminable  topic,  tested  for  hours  the  patience  of  the 
committee.  'J'he  gentleman  from  New  Hampshire,  (Mr.  Atherton,)  who  so  frequently  pro¬ 
fesses  to  abhor  irrelevancy  in  debate,  occupied,  for  hours,  the  attention  of  such  as  could  listen, 
by  reading  from  sundry  British  essays,  pamphlets,  and  reviews,  &c. ;  among  which  I  recollect 
Blackwood's  Magazine  occupied  a  very  conspicuous  place;  and,  not  content  with  hours  thus 
wasted,  the  gentleman  must  have  the  benefit  of  an  adjournment,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of 
myself  and  others;  and,  on  the  next  day,  with  refreshed  energy  and  renewed  vigor,  continued  to 
inflict  upon  us  the  punishment  of  listening  to  his  dull,  unmeaning,  and  irrelevant  quotations. 
J'he  honorable  gentleman  from  Maine,  (Mr.  Clifford,)  des}>ite  the  agony  depicted  on  every 
countenance  around  him,  unfeelingly  introduced  another  subject,  on  which  all  Administration 
men  are  eloquent — ‘‘  'J'he  History  of  the  Federal  and  Democratic  Parties ;”  and  hour  after  hour  was 
consumed  in  reading  from  and  descanting  on  all  the  partisan  writers  of  the  first  thirty  years  of 
our  Government.  Sir,  against  this  waste  of  time  I  must  distinctly  protest,  because  the  party  in 
power  published  some  years  since  a  pamphlet  under  this  title.  It  was  compiled  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  its  choice  spirits,  and  was  sown  broadcast  and  gratuitously  over  the  whole  land,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  the  West,  I  have  a  copy  of  it  now  before  me.  I  therefore  think  this  new  edition  by  the 


4 


gentleman  from  Maine  quite  unnecessary,  especially  as  it  is  mucli  inferior  to  the  first;  anil,  sir,  I 
would,  with  due  deference,  suggest  to  gentlemen  that,  if  they  wish  to  recommend  thoinsclves  to 
Executive  favor,  by  becoming  partisan  authors  and  ];amj)hlet  scribblers,  would  it  not  be  better 
that  they,  should  betake  themselves  to  the  closet,  and  in  that  retirement  scrawl  to  their  heart’s  con¬ 
tent]  Thousands  of  dollars  could  be  thus  saved  to  the  people,  and  yet  the  ymblic  receive  the  ben¬ 
efit  of  their  vast  knowledge  and  literary  gleanings.  But,  sir,  the  gentleman  from  Missouri  (Mr. 
Jameson)  outsiripped  all  his  compeers  in  the  ingenuity  of  his  cruelty  ;  for,  in  spite  of  all  entreaty 
and  all  remonstrance,  he  caused  to  be  read  to  us  one  whole  newspaper  and  jiarts  of  several  others. 
The  ‘‘Nashville  Union”  was,  1  believe,  the  name  of  the  [)a}K“r  which  he  gravely  informed  us  he 
should  atlopl  as  a  part  of  his  speech.  'J'o  this,  sir,  I  have  no  objection,  (fentlemcn  may  adopt 
any  bantling  they  please.  I  care  not  what  its  color  or  its  origin;  but  I  do  wish  that  some  rule 
could  be  devised,  whereby  gentlemen  could  be  [rermitted  to  give  us  these  pamphlets,  and  reviews, 
and  newspa()ers,  and  old  songs,  by  the  iiilt.  'I'hen,  sir,  a  bill  providing  for  the  civil  and  diplo¬ 
matic  e.xpenses  of  the  (iovernment,  might  be  discussed  and  disjjoscd  of  in  somew  bat  less  time 
than  forty  days  and  nights,  and  some  exhibitions  might  be  avoided,  which,  to  say  the  least  of 
them,  reflect  any  thing  but  credit  upon  us  as  legislators.  I  could  proceed,  sir,  to  name  many  other 
gentlemen  of  the  Administration  party  who  occujoied  day  after  day  without  one  moment’s  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  subject  before  the  committee.  I  could  prove,  beyond  the  possibility  of  denial,  that  a 
very  large  portion  of  the  misspent  time  of  which  the  people  are  justly  complaining,  was  occupied 
by  the  declaimers  of  the  Administration  party.  A'et,  sir,  the  organ  of  that  party,  with  unparal¬ 
leled  eATrontery,  accuses  the  Opposition  of  procrastination,  of  wasting  time  unnecessarily,  and  its 
petty  satellites  throughout  the  Union  echo  the  baseless  charge,  notwithstanding  the  facts  which  I 
have  here  stated  stand  uncontroverted  by  any  gentleman  on  tliis  floor. 

There  is,  .Mr.  Chairman,  one  gentleman  of  the  Administration  party  who  participated  largely 
in  this  debate,  who  is  not  obnoxious  to  the  charge  I  have  made:  it  is  the  honorable  chairman  of 
the  Ways  and  Means,  (Mr.  Jones.)  I  must,  in  justice  to  that  gentleman,  say,  that  he  attempt¬ 
ed  to  curb  and  repress  the  reckless  spirits  with  whom  he  is  unfortunately  associated.  But  dig¬ 
nity  and  common  sense,  and  courtesy  of  manners,  have  but  little  influence  with  them  ;  and, 
therefore,  his  counsels  and  his  example  passed  unheeded.  I,  sir,  well  understand  the  object  of 
those  w'ho  have  polluted  this  atmosphere  with  their  ribaldry  and  misrcpre.^^entalions.  They  think 
that  they  are  working  wonders  in  their  daily  labor  of  manufacturing  political  capital  for  the  Pres¬ 
idential  election.  They  supiiose  that  the  people  will  implicitly  believe  any  slander  they  may 
utter.  'I'liey  imagine  that,  under  the  imposing  title  of  a  Congressional  name,  any  absurdity 
will  pass  current  in  the  country;  and  this,  sir,  is  the  manner  in  which  they  carry  on  their  machi¬ 
nations. 

A  base  falsehood  is  manufactured  at  the  fountainhead.  It  i.s  then  inserted  in  some  contempt¬ 
ible  newsj)apcr  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  country,  or  blazoned  forth  in  staring  characters  in  the 
“Oflicial  organ,”  as  the  occasion  may  demand.  It  then  takes  the  rounds  of  the  Administration 
journals,  with  such  comments  as  sui;  the  political  atmosphere  in  which  it  appears.  If  it  succeeds 
in  poisoning  the  public  mind,  the  object  is  accomplished,  and  the  party  rejoice  and  are  satisfied 
with  the  result  of  their  laltors.  But  if  the  good  sense  of  the  ]:)eo[)Ie,  distrustful  of  the  base 
source  from  w'hich  it  emanates,  should  hesitate  to  receive  the  fafsehood — if,  in  anxious  inquiry 
after  truth,  the  honest  yeomanry  of  the  nation  demand  proof  of  the  charge  [)referred,  or  asser¬ 
tion  made,  and  the  slander  receives  but  a  mo?nentary  check,  then,  sir,  the  eye  of  the  Administra¬ 
tion  is  cast  upon  Congress,  and  some  supple  tool  is  selected  to  become  the  “  Cunyrcssional  en¬ 
dorser  ”  Then,  sir,  in  the  shape  of  a  speech  made  u])on  this  floor,  and  with  increased  malig¬ 
nity,  and  improved  venom,  it  is  })oured  forth  to  the  world.  .  And  from  what  1  have  witnessed, 
there  certainly  is  much  competition  for  the  honor  of  serving  as  the  server  of  the  party,  through 
which  all  the  filth  of  the  Administration  shall  pass  itrto  this  Hall,  and  from  this  to  the  country. 
U{)on  this  occasion  I  will  say,  that  more  than  one  of  the  organs  selected  have  shown  themselves 
to  be  of  fitting  mateiial,  not  to  be  the  sewer  only,  but  ih.B  reservoir  of  all  the  pestilential  misrep¬ 
resentations  of  the  Administration. 

I  cannot  notice  what  iliflerent  gentlemen  have.  said.  I  had  not  intended  to  have  opened  my 
lips  during  this  ilebate;  but  after  what  has  fallen  from  the  gentlemen  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Duncan) 
and  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Hopkins,)  I  should  consider  myself  as  remiss  in  duty  did  I  not  say  a  few 
words  in  reply.  The  first  of  these  gentlemen  is  the  acknowledged  idol  of  the  party  and  the  especial 
object  of  their  reverence.  The  latter,  not  less  beloved,  because  more  recently  installed  as  a  priest 
in  their  political  temple.  Both  have  figured  conspicuou.sly  on  this  occasion,  and  have  succeeded 
in  throwing  into  the  shade  all  other  aspirants  to  the  title  of  party  leaders.  Of  the  speech  of  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  I  will  say  but  little.  All  that  part  of  it  impeaching  the  civil  and  military 
character  of  General  Harrison  is  but  a  compilation  of  the  slanders  which  have  appeared  again 
and  again  in  the  Administration  prints,  and  have  so  often  been  refuted  that  further  notice  of  them 
might  possibly  raise  their  authors  “to  the  dignity  of  a  decent  man’s  contempt.”  I  have  no  wish 
to  give  them  even  that  importance,  but  shall  content  myself  with  rejrlying  to  the  attacks  made 
upon  General  Harrison  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  both  in  his  speech  and  in  his  letter  to 


5 


Colonel  Piper,  uliicli,  haviniv  been  puMisheJ  in  pamphlet  form,  and  alluded  to  on  this  floor,  is 
legitimately  a  subject  for  criticism. 

I  perceive,  Mr.  Chairnuui,  that  the  last  Globe  contains  the  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio, 
ond  that,  in  recommending  the  speech  to  the  jnihlie,  its  editor  says,  “it  has  a  spice  of  coarse¬ 
ness  suited  to  the  VV'estern  people.”  I  presume,  sir,  that  our  j)eoj)le  of  the  West  will  fully  ayj- 
prociate  the  rnniplinient  ]:aid  to  their  taste.  I,  sir,  liave  yet  to  learn  that  our  };co]de  are  less 
intelligent,  or  less  observant  of  the  decencies  and  proprieties  of  life,  than  the  people  of  other  por¬ 
tions  of  tl'c  Union;  and  I  have  greatly  mistaken  their  character  if  any  respeetalile  man  of  any 
()arty  will  countenance,  and  approve  any  such  vile  garbage  a.s  is  contained  in  this  specimen  of 
coarseness  issued  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  West.  Could  I  overcome  my  repugnance  to  read  such 
ribaldry,  1  would  give  the  committee  some  “beautiful  extracts”  from  this  speech;  but  I  should 
then  be  compelled  to  pollute  my  printed  remarks  with  their  inseriion,  and,  therefore,  I  forbear. 
At  the  suggesti()n  of  a  gentleman  immctliately  before  me,  I  will,  however,  reail  one  extract,  as¬ 
suring  the  committee  that  I  mean  no  contempt  l)y  its  introduction: 

“  Mary  Rogers  are  a  case, 

And  so  are  bally  Thompson, 

General  Jackson  are  a  hors“, 

And  so  are  Colonel  Johnson.” 

This,  sir,  is  a  specimen  of  Congressional  speech  making,  and  if  it  is  not  coarse  enough  to  suit 
the  taste  of  the  most  vulgar,  the  gentleman  will,  doubtless,  upon  another  trial,  improve  both  his 
style  and  liis  rhymes.  With  the  aid  of  other  kindred  spirits,  he  will,  doubtless  in  his  next 
clfort,  favor  us  with  sornctlring  still  more  disgusting  and  foolish. 

I,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  Western  man,  have  watched  with  something  both  of  sorrow  and  of 
anger,  the  continued  insults  which  have  been  offered  to  the  West,  since  General  Harrison  be¬ 
came  a  candidate.  No  sooner  was  his  name  announced,  than  we  were  snceringly  told  that  he 
was  hut  a  '^^paltrij  Log  Cabin  Candidate  as  thougii  a  residence  in  an  humble  dwelling  con¬ 
stituted  a  crinie,  or  at  least  a  disqualification  for  otfice.  Another  writer  of  the  Administration, 
defending  this  scornful  allusion  to  the  people  of  the  West,  speaks  of  the  tenants  of  the  Log 
Cabins  as  “  having  souls  suited  to  the  dirt  hovels  In  icliich  they  live.'’’  And  nowq  sir,  the  most 
loathsome  trasli  is  published  under  the  name  of  a  speech,  and  it  is  said  by  the  official  organ  that 
its  coarsc7iess  will  suit  the  Western  people. 

Sir,  I  know  tlic  peojilc  who  are  the  objects  of  this  continued  abuse.  I  know  full  well  the 
answer  they  will  give  to  these  pampered  menials  of  power.  'J’hey  await  imyiat'cntly  the 
coming  of  November  next;  and  then,  sir,  with  one  .simultaneous  thunder-shout  of  indignation, 
will  they  pronounce  the  deaUi  doom  of  the  Adininistration  wdiich,  not  content  with  injuring,  lias 
dared  to  insult  ihem. 

And  now,  sir,  I  will  turn  my  attention  to  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Hopkixs,)  and 
although  I  could  wi.sh  to  follow  him  closely,  ami  examine  his  position  minutely,  thi.s,  sir,  is 
impossible,  bolli  from  tlie  lalone.ss  of  tlic  hour,  and  from  the  muUiplicity  of  subjects  introduced 
by  the  gentleman,  doubtless  to  evade  the  true  issue  now  pending.  But,  sir,  as  I  had  anticiyiated, 
the  currency  (]uestion  was  tlie  piincipal  theme  of  his  discouisc;  and  all  the  distress  and  ruin  now 
universal  through  the  country,  attributed  to  the  bank.s.  'This  is  always  the  cry — over-isi-ues  ; 
contraction  and  exnan.sion  ;  excessive  imports;  .‘^mali  exports  ;  heartless  coryjorations  ;  combined 
wealth.  'I’lu'se  nevt'r  varying  and  never  failing  calch-yrhrasrs  the  gentleman  uses  in  profusion, 

1  oth  in  ills  speech  and  in  his  letter  to  Col.  J’ipcr.  In  the  latter,  Ifnd  it  again  and  again  repeated. 
Page  4,  I  liinl  he  .speaks  of  the  inlluonce  tiY  the  baiik«,  and  of  the  “whole  dynasty  of  associated 
wealthy  I’age  9,  he  is  ag.iin  opposed  to  the  wliole  dynasty  of  associated  iccalthd’  Page 
10,  he  speaks  of  a  “ powerful  combhicf ion  ot' avtiticiai,”  &:c.  Again,  the  hanks  “  com¬ 
bine  the  Administration.”  And  again,  he  tells  of  “  encioachments.”  And, 

yr.ige  II,  “incorporated  wealth  never  cloys.”  Mr.  Chairman,  we  all  understand  for  what  pur- 
()ose  tlicso  changes  are  rung.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  sir,  that  the  people  of  this  country  under¬ 
stand  that  it  is  an  attempt  to  enlist  their  piTjudices  rather  than  tlicir  judgments.  And  further, 
.sir,  I  think  the  gentleman  undei  ratcs  their  common  sense,  by  supposing  that  he  can,  by  thas  ruse, 
prevoiil  them  from  examining  into  the  causes  of  their  pre.'^ent  troubio.s.  The  gentleman  says 
that  there  have  been  over-issues  by  the  banks;  over-trading  by  ihe.yaeople,  <Ac.  I,  .‘^ir,  have 
not  time  to  iiivcsiigate  this  matter  closely  ;  but  it  lia.s  1  cen  examined  repeatedly,  both  in  this  and 
the  last  Congress,  and  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doulit,  that  the  destruction  of  the  , Bank 
of  the  United  Slates,  and  the  after  policy  of  the  Administration,  caused  those  ovcr-is.suts  of 
which  tho-gentleman  comjdains.  The  ver}’  stale  of  tilings  now  existing,  wa.s  predicted  by  the 
Cyiposition  yirevious  to  it.s  destruction.  We  were  told,  sir,  by  the  friends  of  the  then  existing 
Administration,  that  the  State  corporations  would  furnish  a  better  currency  ;  that  money  would 
be  more  yileutiful  ;  atul  that  money  was  to  be  all  gold  or  silver — no  baidt  yiaper.  But  no  sooner 
was  the  bill  rechartcring  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  vetoed,  and  the  deposites  removed  from  its 
care,  than  we  liad  message  after  message  lauding  the  State  lianks.  In  1834,  the  President  pro¬ 
claimed  to  Congress  that  “  the  State  banks  are  found  fully  adequate  to  tlie  performance  of  all  ser¬ 
vices  whi<‘h  were  required  of  tlie  Bank  of  the  United  State.s,  quite  as  promptly,  and  with  the  same 


6 


cheapness.”  In  1835,  the  President  in  his  message  again  assures  Congress  that  the  State  banks 
continued  to  realize  every  expectation  entertained  of  their  capacity  to  serve  the  purposes  of  Gov¬ 
ernment.  In  1836,  the  President  again  told  Congress  that  the  State  banks  still  performed  all  the 
duties  required  of  them.  Every  Administration  paper  in  the  Union  echoed  their  praise.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Taney,  urged  upon  the  several  deposite  hanks  to  inciiease  their  dis¬ 
counts,  and  gave  as  a  reason,  that  “  the  deposUes  of  the  public  money  will  enable  you  to  afford 
increased  facilities.”  Banks  were  selected  as  public  depositories,  merely  on  account  of  the  party 
bias  of  those  who  controlled  their  affairs,  as  will  appear  by  the  published  correspondence  of  certain 
institutions  in  New  York,  and  other  parts  of  the  Union.  According  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  they  did  extend  their  issues,  and  speculation — unprecedented  expansion, 
became  the  result.  Then  came  the  specie  circular  ;  and  the  very  crisis  which  the  Opposition 
had  always  predicted,  fell  with  appalling  force  upon  us;  and  ever  since  that  time,  the  country, 
like  a  drunken  man,  has  been  reeling  to  and  fro  under  the  influence  of  the  noxious  draught  ad¬ 
ministered  by  the  political  empirics  of  that  day.  This,  sir,  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  causes  of  the 
over-issues  to  which  are  attributed  the  present  embarrassments  of  the  country.  But,  sir,  if  mis¬ 
management  of  banks,  and  over-issues,  are  to  be  alluded  to  in  a  party  point  of  view,  I  would  turn 
the  attention  of  the  gentleman  to  those  States  where  the  Administration  party  had  the  control. 

I  will  instance  Mississippi,  Alabama,  &c.  Those  States,  sir,  are  edifying  specimens  of  Admiti-  ' 
istration  financiering.  It  is  useless,  sir,  to’  attem[>t  to  satisfy  the  people  any  longer  with  fine 
spun  theories,  or  specious  promises.  It  is  in  vain  to  ask  them  to  submit  to  any  more  experi¬ 
ments.  They  are  determined  to  have  a  change  in  the  Administration.  They  can  recollect  that 
but  a  few  years  since  they  had  a  sound  currency,  good  markets,  and  constant  employment  for 
their  industry.  They  know  that  there  has  been  mismanagement  somewhere.  Their  present 
condition  cannot  be  rendered  more  distressing.  Any  change  must  be  for  the  better,  and  there¬ 
fore  a  change  they  will  have.  This,  sir,  is  the  language  of  common  sense,  as  now  coming  from 
the  mass  of  the  people. 

But,  sir,  I  perceive  that  the  Administration  party  here  affect  to  sneer,  as  usual,  at  the  assertion 
i,  made  by  myself  and  others,  that  general  distress  pervades  the  country.  I  know,  sir,  that  gentle¬ 
men  have'  said  that  it  is  but  imaginary.  One  gentleman,  (Mr.  Duncax,)  in  his  speech,  has  told 
us  that,  if  the  people  are  embarrassed,  he  would  advise  them  “to  take  oft’  their  coats,  and  go  to 
work.”  This  language,  sir,  may  suit  an  Administration  rolling  in  wealth  and  splendor.  It  may 
come  with  fitting  grace  from  the  supporters  of  men  who  are  receiving  large  salaries  in  gold  and 
silver,  and  actually  by  the  derangement  of  the  currency.  But  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  the 

people  will  know  how  to  appreciate  and  to  answer  such  unfeeling,  heariless,  cold-blooded,  and 
insolent  language.  They  have  had  their  coats  off;  they  have  labored  ;  they  have  vainly  used 
every  effort  to  obtain  the  due  reward  of  that  labor;  and  now  the  products  of  the  agricultural  com¬ 
munity  are  still  remaining  unsold,  or,  if  disposed  of,  it  has  been  at  a  ruinous  sacrifice.  Aird 
even  now  the  farmer  is  sowing  and  planting  without  hope  of  remuneration.  He  knows  not 
whether  the  sweat-drops  of  a  long  summer’s  labor  will  avail  him  aught.  In  the  present  derange¬ 
ment  of  all  business  operations,  the  calculations  even  of  the  most  sagacious  fail;  and  yet  gentle¬ 
men,  as  an  answ’er  to  the  every  day’s  experience  of  these  truths,  return  the  old  answ'er,  that  the  Ad¬ 
ministration  is  not  responsible,  and  attribute  it  all  to  the  banks.  Sir,  the  Administration  is  res¬ 
ponsible.  It  is  its  exploded  and  exploding  experiments  which  have  occasioned  this  state  of  things. 

Its  tamperings  ;  its  reckless  disregard  for  every  interest ;  its  determination  to  sustain  itself  in  power 
at  every  hazard  ;  its  execrable  attempts  to  check  the  enterprise,  and  assimilate  the  condition  of 
the  American  people  to  that  of  the  monarchies  of  Europe.  Sir,  one  week’s  derangement  of  the 
active  industry  of  this  country  is  a  greater  loss  to  the  country  than  if  you  w'ere  to  throw  the 
whole  capital  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  into  the  Delaware.  This,  sir,  is  undeniable,  and 
yet  we  have  had  not  only  weeks,  but  years,  of  constant  derangement,  and  the  consequences  are 
now  hanging  darkly  as  a  pall  upon  the  country. 

But,  sir,  as  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  is  so  loud  in  his  denunciation  of  the  banks,  and  no’in 
thinks  that  the  public  money  ought  by  no  means  to  be  placed  in  their  keeping,  I  will  read  a 
passage  from  the  report  of  the  majority  of  the  Investigating  Committee,  of  which  the  gentleraan 
was  a  uiember,  and  W'ilh  w'hich  majority  he  acted.  Atfer  stating  that  the  loss  to  the  Govern¬ 
ment  of  large  sums  of  money  might  have  been  avoided  by  depositing- in  the  banks,  on  special 
deposite,  and  citing  the  Bank  of  America  and  the  Manhattan  Bank  as  having  been  used  as  de¬ 
positories  after  they  suspended  specie  payments,  the  committee,  on  page  72,  say: 

“  It  is,  then,  apparent  ihat,  had  the  depositing  system  of  banks  been  continued,  Mr.  Swartwout  could  not  have 
had  money,  beyond  the  collections  of  a  sinale  week,  exceeding  the  current  expenses  of  his  office,  to  have  retained 
on  going  out  of  office  ;  and  the  evidence,  (if  hi.s  not  having  diverted  any  previous  to  that  ti  e,  and  that  all  previous 
collections  wei'c  in  bank,  would  have  been  regularly  derived  from  the  banks,  as  well  as  in  Mr.  Swariwout’s  official 
j.eiurns.” 

I  shall  have  occasion,  sir,  to  refer  to  this  report  again  ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  I  must  remark 
that  the  gentleman’s  opinions  have  certainly  undergone  a  great  change  since  the  last  session  of 
Congress.  It  is  useless  for  the  gentleman  to  give  as  an  excuse,  that  the  banks  have  now'  sus¬ 
pended  ;  for  the  report  finds  fault  because  the  deposites  were  not  made,  even  after  they  had  sus¬ 
pended. 


But,  ssir,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  defend  the  hanks.  I  am  in  nowise  identified  with  them  ;  but 
the  gentleman  having  thought  fit  to  accuse  the  Opposition  of  shifting  ground,  and  acting  incon¬ 
sistently,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  den}’-  the  assertion,  to  investigate  his  course,  and  to  ascertain 
whether  he  is  not  liable  to  the  very  charge  he  has  so  unreservedly  made  against  u.s. 

I  would,  Mr.  Chairman,  call  the  attention  of  the  commitlee  to  the  systematic  deception  which 
is  now  practising  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  the  promised  reforms 
in  the  currency.  The  Administration  leaders  have  now  at  least  some  half  a  dozen  various 
schemes  on  which  they  are  attempting  to  coin  political  capital.  The  Senator  from  Missouri . 
(.Mr.  Bknton)  is  opposed  to  the  issuing  of  any  hank  paper  in  bills  under  the  denomination  of  one 
hundred  dollars.  The  Senator  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Cauhoun)  is  out  aga  nst  all  hank 
paper,  and  must  have  nothing  hut  gold  and  silver.  A  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Bu- 
CHAiTAjr)  says  that  he  is  in  fiivor  of  a  mixed  currepey,  hut  asks  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  to 
confer  power  on  Congress  to  prohibit  the  issue  of  any  notes  under  twenty  dollars.  Another 
Administration  partisan  in  this  House  (Mr.  MoNTGO]\rETir)  proposes  to  issue  ten  dollar  Treasu¬ 
ry  notes  as  currency,  and  this  without  one  single  dollar  of  specie  basis.  Look  also,  sir,  at  the 
action  of  the  Legislatures  under  Administration  control — Pennsylvania,  for  instahee.  'i'he  Legis¬ 
lature  meets,  (the  V^an  Buren  party  having  a  large  majority,)  l)reathing  vengeance  against  the 
banks;  nothing  will  appease  their  wrath  but  immediate  resumption  or  instant  destruction.  They 
meet,  wrangle,  scold,  vow  that  banks  are  nuisances,  and  bank  paper  worthless  rass ;  and  termi¬ 
nate  the  session  by  borrowing  some  millions  of  bank  paper,  and  allowing  the  banks  their  own 
time  to  resume  specie  payment.  They  then  go  home  and  hold  indignaiion  meetings,'  and 
denounce  one  another  as  having  acted  traitorously  to  the  party.  And  when,  sir,  I,  as  a  stranger 
to  Pennsylvania  tactics,  have  asked  some  explanation  of  these  seeming  inconsistencies,  I  have 
been  told,  Oh,  never  mind  us ;  we  will  arrange  it  all ;  we  understand  the  people  of  Pennsylvania. 

I  will  now  take  notice  of  the  complaint  made  by  the  gentleman  that  the  Opposition  deal  unfair¬ 
ly  with  the  Administration,  in  giving  to  the  public  partial  extracts  from  official  documents. 
This  charge,  sir,  is  unfounded;  is  unsupported  by  any  proof;  and  I  defy  any  gentleman  to 
make  good  the  accusation.  T  deprecate  as  much  as  any  gentleman  can,  any  such  unfairness  ; 
and  I  consider  any  man  who  would  knowingly  mislead  the  public  mind,  a  fit  object  of  scorn  and  _ 
contempt.  I  will  read,  sir,  the  document  which  has  given  the  Administration  party  so  much  ^ 
uneasiness. 

(OFFICIAL.)-PUBLIC  EXPENDITURE  FROM  1824  TO  1838. 

Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  trausmUting  a  statement  of  expenditure,  exclusive  of  the  public 

debt,  for  each  year,  from  1824  to  1838. 

(June  28, 1838.— Read,  and  laid  upon  the  table.) 

Treasury  Department,  June  27, 1838. 

Sir  ;  In  obedience  to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  25th  instant,  I  liave  the  honor  to  “  lay 
before  the  House  a  statement  showing  the  amount  of  expenditure,  exclusive  of  the.  public  debt,  for  each  year,  from 
1824  to  1838.”  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

LEV^I  WOODBURY,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 

Hon.  J.  K.  Polk,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


Statement  showing  the  amount  of  expenditures  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  the  public  debt,  for  each  year, 
from  1824  to  1837,  inclusive,  stated  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  25111 
June,  1838. 


For  the  year  1824  - 

- 

- 

-  §15,330,144  71 

For  the  year 

1831  - 

Do 

1825  - 

- 

- 

-  11,490.459  94 

Do 

1832  - 

Do 

1826  - 

- 

- 

-  13,062,316  27 

Do 

1833  - 

Do 

1827  - 

- 

12,653,095  Go 

Do 

1834  - 

Do 

1828  - 

- 

- 

-  12,396,041  45 

Do 

ia35  • 

Do 

1829  - 

- 

- 

-  12,660,460  62 

Do 

1836  • 

Do 

1830  - 

- 

- 

-  13,229,533  33 

Do 

ia37  - 

§13,864,067  9U 
16,516,388  77 
22,713,755  11 
18,425,417  25 
17,514,950  28 
30,868,164  04 
’*^39,164,745  37 


*Note.— The  foregoing  sums  include  jjayments  for  trust  funds  and  indemnities,  which,  in  1837,  was  §5,610,404  36 


Treasury  Department,  Register's  Office,  June  27, 1838. 


T.  L.  SMITH,  Register. 


Is  there  a  gentleman  on  this  floor  who  will  rise  in  his  place  and  say  that  this  is  not  a  full  and 
complete  document,  as  sent  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  1  Is  there  a  word  or 
figure  missing  1  Is  there  a  syllable  added  1  No,  sir;  it  is  the  whole  of  an  official  report.  What 
does  it  prove  1  That  the  expenditures  of  this  Government,  despite  all  the  professions  of 
economy,  despite  all  the  promises  of  retrenchment,  have  increased  from  $15,330,144  71  in 
1824,  to  $39,164,745  37  in  1837,  nearly  threefold;  and  w'hen,  sir,  we  present  this  document 
to  the  people  and  ask  their  judgment  upon  it,  the  Administration  party  complain  of  unfairness. 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  with  much  ingenuity,  attempts  to  evade  this  plain  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  facts  and  figures,  by  explaining  the  causes  which  have  led  to  this  vast  increase  of  the  ex¬ 
penditures  by  the  Administration.  This,  sir,  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  do ;  and  I,  sir,  have  also 
a  right  to  answer  his  explanations,  and  to  show  that,  notwithstanding  his  ingenuity  and  tact  at 
mystifying  this  subject,  this  Administration  is  responsible — justly  censurable — for  permitting 
and  countenancing  waste,  extravagance,  and  peculation. 


8 


Amongst  other  things,  the’  gentleman  from  Virginia  qm-tes  the  Florida  war  as  an  item  of  ‘■‘ex¬ 
traordinary  expenses,”  and  says  that  many  of  the  Opposition  voted  supplies.  I  have  not  exam¬ 
ined  the  journal,-  neiiher  shall  I ;  for  I  consider  it  as  (juitc  immaterial  who  and  what  party  voted 
for  or  against  the  appropriations.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  know  that  a  war  with  the  Indians  ex¬ 
isted  in  Florida,  and  that  the  Government  made  estimates,  and  demanded  supplie.?.  They  were 
granted;  and  the  Administration  is  responsible  for  the  manner  of  the  expenditure.  But,  sir, 
this  is  another  instance  oi' ihe  fair7ics^  with  which  the  Opposition  are  treated.  If  they  vole  sup¬ 
plies,  they  are  accused  extravagance,  and  the  President  protests  that  he  is  not  responsible. 
Had  they  refused  to  vote  the  money  demanded  by  the  Government,  a  want  of  patriotism  would 
have  been  a.scril)ed  to  them,  and  they  would  have  been  branded  as  enemies  of  the  country.  But, 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  proceed  to  prove  that  the  money  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  prose¬ 
cution  of  this  w'ar  has  been  most  shamefully  wasted  ;  and  I  will  cite  a  few  instances  of  the  lavish 
extravagance  which  I  charge,  upon  the  Administration.  In  Senate  Document,  2d  session  25th 
Congress,  vol.  3,  I  find  “a  statement  of  contracts  for  fuel,  transportation,  &c.,  for  the  Quarter¬ 
master’s  department  for  1837,”  and  signed  “  T.  Cross,  Acting  Quartermaster  General.”  Here, 
.sir,  I  find,  in  part,  how  the  thirty  millions  have  been  expended  in  Florida.  1  will  give  the 
committee  a  few  items  oi  steamboat  contracts  for  1837 ; 


charter  of  steamboat  Watchman 

-  §450  per 

or  §164,250 

pel  annum 

Do. 

do. 

Mobile 

465 

do. 

169,725 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

.\nna  Calhoun,  and  2 

barges  400 

do. 

146,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Henry  Crornw'ell 

300 

do. 

109,500 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Hyperion 

300 

do. 

109,500 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Leflore 

200 

do. 

73,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Charleston  - 

-  3,750  per  month 

,  or  45,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Florida 

-  3,000 

do. 

36,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

.fohn  McLean 

-  4,000 

do. 

48,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

Camden 

-  4,000 

do. 

48,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

James  Adams 

-  4,000 

do. 

48,000 

do. 

Do. 

do. 

iVltamaha  - 

-  5,000 

do. 

60,000 

do. 

Do, 

do. 

— 

-  3,500 

do. 

40,000 

do- 

In  short,  sir,  by  this  document  it  appears  that  there  were  ciiAnTEiiED,  during  the  year  1837', 
thirty-live  steamboats,  forty-three  schooners,  tw'o  sloops,  twenty-five  brigs,  six  ships;  making, 
in  all,  one  hundred  and  eleven  vessels  chartered,  during  the  year  1837,  for  the  prosecution  of  this 
Florida  w^ar — this  war,  sir,  which  we,  a  nation  of  millions,  have  waged  for  years  with  some  500 
naked  warriors.  And,  besides  the  one  hundred  and  eleven  vessels  chartered,  I  find  upwards  of 
one  hundred  contracts,  some  of  them  of  a  very  large  amount,  for  Iransportation  of  troops,  for¬ 
age,  ann^,  horses,  8ic.,  during  that  year,  for  this  war.  Sir,  the  party  in  power  is  justly  charge¬ 
able  with  having  involved  the  country  in  this  war  unnecessarily,  and  then  of  having  wasted  the 
money  appropriated  for  its  prosecution. 

1  will  give  also  another  charge  from  the  same  document :  Yor  transporting  100  cords  of 

fire-wood  from  New  Orleans  to  Fort  Brooke,  East  Florida,  and  one  assistant  surgeon,  $2,000.” 
Here,  sir,  is  charged  twenty  dollars  per  cord  for  currying  fire-wood  from  New  Orleans,  besides 
the  original  cost  and  other  expenses;  and  that,  too,  to  a  country  where,  as  I  am  assured  by  gen¬ 
tlemen  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  thousands  of  cords  of 'vsmod  could  be  cut  in  sight  of  the 
'ort  to  which  this  wood  was  sent.  I  am  also  informed  that  w’ood  has  often  been  taken  from 
Florida  to  New  Orleans'for  sale;  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  this  wood  was  originally  from 
Florida,  and,  after  being  shipped  to  New  Orleans  and  properly  seasoned,  was  shipped  back  again 
to  afford  a  little  patronage.  'I’hese,  sir,  are  a  few  specimens  of  expenditure  in  the  Florida  war 
for  1837.  I  could  for  hours  read  charges  equally  obnoxious  to  censure;  and,  sir,  I  have  had  a 
resolution  on  your  table  ever  since  the  first  resolution  day  of  this  session  asking  the  Secretary  of 
War  for  a  detailed  account  of  the  expenditures  of  the  war,  and  the  friends  of  the  Administration, 
by  some  miserable  subterfuge  or  quibbling  point  of  order,  refuse  to  call  for  the  statement.  And 
yet,  sir,  this  is  called  a  representative  Government,  and  wc  assume  to  be  the  Grand  Inquest  of 
the  nation,  and  the  people  are  told  that  all  officers,  from  the  President  dow  n,  arc  strictly  account¬ 
able.  Fet  we  cannot  ask  hoNv  §30,000,000  of  their  money  has  been  spent  without  being  told 
by  gentlemen  that  the  Opposition  voted  supplies  for  the  war,  and  that  these  expenditures  are 

extraordinary.”  Truly,  sir,  they  are  extraordinary  and  therefore  it  is  that  I  demand  a 
full  and  explicit  statement  as  to  their  nature. 

I  am  told,  sir,  that  a  steamboat  was  oflered  to  the  Government  for  about  §14,000,  and,  refusing 
to  purchase,  they  chartered  her  until  they  paid  some  §72,000.  I  am  told,  sir,  that  plank  in  sev¬ 
eral  instances  has  cost  §1  25  per  foot,  or'§l25  per  hundred  feet.  Also,  that  fire  wood  has  cost 
§50  per  cord.  Sir,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Administration  party  to  give  the  people  light  on  this 
subject,  and  to  relieve  themselves,  if  they  can,  from  the  charges  of  waste  and  peculation. 

I  believe  tiae  charges  to  be  true,  from  what  I  have  seen  of  the  documents  now  before  me,  and 
4iis  is  but  the  account  for  one  year.  I  should,  amongst  other  things,  like  to  see  what  amount 


9 


has  been  expentled  for  the  “bloodhounds,”  which,  as  every  person  now  acknowledges,  have 
turned  out  to  be  common  curs,  and  not  worth  a  shilling  a  head.  I  presume  that  this  experiment-, 
with  the  confi}igencles,  cost  some  thousands.  I  perceive,  also,  that  one  man  has  been  paid 
■S7  bO  per  day,  and  subsistence,  for  transporting  feriy  bushels  of  corn,  in  sacks,  from  one  post 
to  another  in  Wiskonsin.  Flour  has  been  transported  from  one  place  to  another  until  it  cost 
$50  per  barrel,  and  then  sold  at  one-fourth  of  the  cost  of  transportation.  In  .short,  sir,  did  I  not 
sec  these  things  stated  in  official  documents,  I  could  not  have  believed  it  possible  that  such  gross 
mismanagement  existed.  But  I  must  leave  this  branch  of  expenditure,  thus  hastily  glanced  at, 
and  puss  to  another. 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  in  his  anxiety  to  defend  his  new  allies,  quotes  the  expenses 
“of  Indian  emigration,  and  subsistence  for  Indians,”  as  an  item  of  expenditure  for  vvhich  many  of 
the  Op[)osition  voted,  and  the  gentleman  classes  it  under  the  head  of  “extraordinary  expenses.” 
I  shall  not  deny  that  many  Opposition  members  did  vote  for  the  estimates  demanded  by  the  Ad¬ 
ministration  for  this  branch  of  the  public  service.  I  think  they  were  quite  justifiable  in  so  doing. 
But,  sir,  could  any  one  of  the  0])i)osili(in  have  ever  supjioscd  that  the  money  voted  would  have 
been  so  shamefully  squandered,  absolutely  wasted,  as  the  reports  of  the  officers  in  that  depait- 
ment  piiovk  it  to  have  been.  I  w'ill  cite  one  or  two  instances,  out  of  the  many  I  could  enumer¬ 
ate,  to  jirove  the  unjustifialile  and  criminal  abiucs  which  have  been  practised  on  this  subject. 

Document  No.  127,  of  3d  session  of  2.'ilh  Congress,  is  a  letter  of  Mr.  Poinsett,  Secretary  of 
W  ar.  In  that  document  I  find  a  communication  from  the  Commissary  General  of  Subsistence, 
addressed  to  Mr.  Poinsett,  and  I  there  perceive  that  the  Government,  after  purchasing  unneces¬ 
sarily  a  vast  amount  of  provisions,  <S:c.,  “  for  the  army,  sent  it  to  the  Cherokee  country,”  and,  hav¬ 
ing  no  use  for  it,  ordered  it  to  be  sold,  and  I  wall  quote  an  extract  from  that  communication  : 

“  The  supplies  sold  consisted  of  50  barrels  pork,  2,C45  barrels  flour,  821  barrels  hard  bread,  272,|  1  ushels  beans, 
16;!:  bushcTs  conunealj  169  l  iislu  Is  corn,  506  bushels  salt,  75,027  pounds  sutrar,  41,297  jiounds  coti'ee,  5,40b  pounds  rice, 
501,020  pounds_ bacon,  28,181  pounds  soap,  11,1 10  pounds  candles,  371  galbuis  whiskey,  5,145  gallons  xinegar,  and 
all  the  i5?Suing  apparatus,  such  as  scales,  wefahts,  a.nd  measures,  used  while  the  volunteer  troops  were  in-service. 
Tliese  articles  produced  the  nett  sum  of  1552,117  90.” 

This,  sir,  is  the  official  account.'’'  Doc.s  any  gentleman  here  deny  ill  Is  there  one 

of  the  Administration  party  who  wishes  to  give  an  explanation  I  if  so,  I  will  give  way.  Not 
onCj  sir.  Then,  let  none  of  the  Administration  payters  throughout  the  Union  dare  to  deny  this 
statement.  And  what  do  I  prove  by  ihis^  Mr.  Chairman  I  'i’hat  this  vast  amount  of  supplies, 

collected  unnecessarily,"  cost,  as  will  appear  by  the  accounts  of  the  Department,  uynvards  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars,  including  transportation,  commissions,  buildings  erect¬ 
ed  for  their  preservation.  &c.,  and  were  sold  by  this  all-wise  and  competent  Administration  for 
less  than  one-jifih  of  cost.  'Uhis,  sir,  is  the  manner  in  which  the  money  of  the  people  is  wa.sted. 

I  will  ask  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  if  it  was  possible  for  any  honest  man  to  anticiyiale  such 
unjustifiable  .squanderings  of  the  jiublic  money  I  It  seems,  sir,  that  the  28,181  pounds  of  soaj) 
w’cre  not  needed  by  the  army.  It  ought  never  to  have  been  sold,  sir.  It  should  have  been 
shipped  to  Washington,  and  would  have  served  as  a  fraction  of  the  quantity  requisite  to  cleanse 
this  foul  Administration.  But,  sir,  I  wall  give  you  another  item  of  sale.s  of  stores,  8c c.,  purchased 
unnecessarily,  and  sold  at  auction  in  the  Cherokee  country,  in  1838,  and  embraced  in  this  same 
communication.  I  find,  sir,  that  corn,  which  cost  the  Government  at  legist  one  dollar  and  a 
halj,  and  in  many  instances  two  dollars,  per  bushel,  and  accumulated  unnece.ssarily  in  vast  quan¬ 
tities,  w'as  sold  by  this  economical  Administration  as  follows  ; 

8,381  bushels  corn,  at  17^  cents  yicr  bushel  400  bushels  corn,  at  3^  cents  per  bushel. 

5,275  do.  at  Ilf  do.  4,230-^  do.,  at  1 do. 

4,990|  do.  at  lOi  do. 

This,  sir  is  a  specimen  of  the  prices  at  which  this  article  was  .sold,  and  thousands  of  dollars 
thrown  away  in  this  one  article  of  corn  alone.  And  this,  sir,  is  only  a  fraction  of  the  quantity 
sold.  I  find,  further,  sir,  that  oats,  purchased  at  double  the  usual  cost,  were  sold  at  3^  cents 
per  bushel.  This  corn  and  oats  were  not  damaged  ;  for  ihc  report  states  them  to  have  been  sound, 
and  the  damaged  corn  sold  separately.  I  could  proceed,  sir,  to  enumerate  liundred-s  of  cases  of 
the  same  nature,  but  time  will  not  permit.  I  will  close  by  giving  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  the 
Creek  agent  at  Fort  Gibson,  addressed  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Allairs,  complaining  of 
the  action  of  tiio  Administration,  in  forwarding  such  immense  quantities  of  supyilics  unnecessari¬ 
ly  to  that  post,  and  which  also  had  to  be  sold  at  an  immense  sacrilice  : 

“  But,  whatever  be  the  apology  of  the  measure  in  question,  whether  it  be  ignorance  of  the  res  urces  of  the  comitr}q 
distrust  of  the  caqability  of  the  officers  charged  with  the  sul  sistence  of  the  Indians,  (ir  a  tlrrad  of  a  failure  (.f  iheir 
pftbris  in  that  resiiect,  one  thing  is  deinonstral  ly  true,  that  the  great  loss  n.hich  is  timr  inerituhh/  consequent  upon, 
the  measure,  might  have  been  avoided  had  timely  directions  been  given  to  dispose  of  t'iiis  extraordinary 
supply  of  provision  as  soon  us  it  was' ascertained  not  to  be  needed." 

He.  again  says: 

“  Instead  of  this,  cargo  after  cargo  continued  to  arrive  as  the  necessity  decreased." 

Again,  sir,  the  same  agent  says  : 

“  1  reyioat,  sir,  fearless  of  contradiction,  had  the  agents  here  been  instructed,  in  the  first  instance,  as  agents  ol  the 
Governnionl  otight  to  have  been,  where  its  interest^ was  concerned,  the  public  would  not  have  sustained  the  loss  of 


10 


a  single  dollar  ;  ihe  provision  purchased  in  New  Orleans  would  have  been  sold,  and  not  transported  here,  as  has 
been  the  case,  at  an  enormous  expense,  where  it  was  not  needed,  and  at  an  additional  expense  o)' several  thousamls 
to  erect  suitable  buildings  to  cover  it  from  the  weather.” 

This  gentleman,  sir,  for  his  plain  speaking  to  the  Government  olTicers,  was  treated  with  offi¬ 
cial  insolence,  and  immediately  resigned  his  station.  A  mean,  obsequious,  fawning  sycophant 
would  have  been  cherished  and  patronized  by  them.  Here,  sir,  is  another  instance  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  squandered.  Who  could  liave  dreamed  of  such  “blundering  policy?” 
And  yet  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  says  the  Opposition  voted  for  “Indian  subsistence,”  &c.; 
and  he  is  loud  in  praise  of  an  Administration  which  is  thus,  by  its  own  official  fiocument.s,  con¬ 
victed  of  incompetency,  waste,  and  extravagance,  and  it  may  be  something  worse.  I  believe, 
sir,  that  all  these  unnecessary  purchases  were  made  to  give  profitable  contracts  to  favorites. 

We  have  been  told,  sir,  that  the  public  buildings  are  another  source  of  “  extraordinary”  ex¬ 
pense.  I  will,  sir,  for  a  moment  refer  to  this  matter,  and  in  that  moment,  convince  the  com¬ 
mittee,  that  another  high-handed  and  unjustifiable  act  of  this  Administration  has  cost- the  people, 
unnecessarily,  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  I  refer  to  the  Post  Office  building.  The  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Public  Buildings  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  actual  cost 
of  the  building  proposed  to  be  erected,  made  a  demand  for  a  detailed  estimate  of  the  cost  of  a 
split  granite  building.  It  was  furnished;  and  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
dollars.  But,  sir,  no  sooner  had  Congress  adjourned,  than  the  President  ordered  the  erection  of 
a  marble  building — a  perfect  palace,  which  is  now  estimated,  even  by  Administration  gentlemen, 
to  cost  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This,  sir,  will  explain  to  gentlemen  why  this  branch  of 
expenditure  is  termed  “extraordinary.”  But,  sir,  there  is  another  matter  connected  with  this 
subject,  and  which  is  admitted  even  here  by  the  friends  of  the  Administration.  After  the  money 
appropriated  by  Cong  ess  had  been  expended,  fearing  that  at  its  next  nneeting  it  might  arrest  the 
work,  or  demand  an  explanation  of  this  enormously  increased  expenditure,  the  Executive  actually 
allowed  the  work  to  progress  on  credit  to  the  amount  of  §565,000,  and  the  laborers  on  the  build¬ 
ing,  instead  of  receiving  their  pay  regularly,  were  given  checks  or  memoranda  of  the  amount 
due  them;  and  now,  sir,  wo  arc  called  upon  to  vote  money;  and  our  sympathies  are  appealed  to 
to  pay  the  laborers.  They  shall  be  paid,  sir;  but  I  would  demand  to  know  by  what  authority  of 
law  was  this  work  persevered  in  after  the  appropriation  was  expended  ?  How  dare  the  President 
and  his  coadjutors  anticipate  the  action  of  Congress  ?  How  dare  they  usurp  the  power  which 
legitimately  belongs  to  the  Representatives  of  the  people  ?  But,  sir,  my  questions  are  answered 
by  every  day’s  experience.  They  dare  do  any  thing.  They  dare  violate  all  law;  scoff  at  all  pre¬ 
cedent;  commit  any  and  every  act,  however  unjustifiable  and  unlawful,  and  a  drilled  party  ma¬ 
jority  will  support  and  countenance  their  iniquities. 

I  could  refer,  also,  to  the  Treasury  building  as  another  instance  of  the  wasteful  expenditure  of 
public  money.  I  could  give  repeated  instances,  in  which  money  appropriated  by  Congress  for 
one  object  has  been  transferred  to  another,  without  any  authority  of  law ;  and  when  these  ex¬ 
posures  are  made,  the  party  acknowledge  that  investigation  ought  to  be  had,  but  that  it  is  not 
convenient  to  make  it  at  this  particular  time. 

I  will  mention,  Mr.  Chairman,  one  other  item  of  expenditure.  Congress  ordered  a  survey  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  made  an  appropriation  for  improving  the  channel  at  the  Ba- 
iize.  And  how  do  you  suppose,  sir,  that  the  money  has  been  expended  ?  One  steamboat, 
one  dredgeboat,  and  four  schooners  have  been  built  or  purchased,  and  fitted  up  in  the  most  taste¬ 
ful  style.  I  find,  sir,  that  there  is  charged  for  furniture  in  one  of  them,  a  mahogany  sideboard, 
two  splendid  card  tables,  merino  curtains,  fine  cane-seated  settees,  and  other  furniture  to  suit, 
eight  patent  lever  watches,  one  chronometer,  costing  $280,  silver  ware,  and  numerous  other  ar¬ 
ticles  of  the  same  description.  All  this,  sir,  is  for  common  mud-boats.  And  after  expending  two 
hundred  and  ninety-one  thousand  dollars,  the  work  is  abandoned;  and  the  mouth  of  the  river  is 
now  in  a  worse  condition  than  before  the  work  was  commenced.  This,  sir,  is  the  expenditure 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  I  know  not  how  many  snag-boats  and  mud-boats  have  been  employ¬ 
ed  on  Red  river,  or  other  rivers,  or  whether  they  are  fitted  out  in  the  same  style.  But  I  do 
know,  that  when  we  ask  a  small  appropriation  on  the  Cumberland  road,  we  are  told  by  the 
Adminstration  that  there  is  no  money  in  the  Treasury ;  and  that  they  are  disposed  to  think  that 
work  unconstitutional. 

'I’here  is  another  title,  Mr.  Chairman,  under  which  the  money  of  the  people  is  squandered,  if 
not  actually  purloined.  It  is  under  the  head  of  “contingencies;”  and  the  bill  now  before  us 
gives  a  small  specimen  of  the  amount  thus  charged.  In  it  alone,  there  is  appropriated,  under  the 
title  of  contingencies,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  dol¬ 
lars,  besides  sixty-seven  thousand  dollars  for  miscellaneous,  making  together,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars.  And  when,  sir,  we  ask  how  this 
large  sum  is  expended,  we  are  told  that  it  is  quite  impossible  now  to  give  a  detailed  statement; 
but  that,  no  doubt,  it  will  be  honestly  accounted  for.  And  if  any  of  us  insist  on  receiving  the 
information,  we  are  accused  of  wasting  the  time  of  the  House,  and  of  being  altogether  too  in¬ 
quisitive.  Next  year,  sir,  we  shall  have  these  sums  accounted  for  in  a  bill  for  washing  towels, 
horse  hire,  &c. 


11 


But,  sir,  it  strikes  me  that  gentlemen,  in  their  zeal  to  defend  the  Administration,  in  more 
than  one  instance  forget  that  “there  is  but  one  step  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.”  They 
talk  quite  feelingly  indignant  of  the  unfairness  shown  to  the  Administration  in  this  matter  of  ex¬ 
penditure,  and  call  it  “crying  injustice,”  and  say  that  a  large  item  is  the  three  per  cent,  fund 
paid  to  the  States.  Now,  sir,  this  is  rather  an  amusing  defence.  Has  not  the  three  per  cent, 
fund  been  paid  to  the  States  under  every  Administration  1  Is  it  not  paid  only  in  proj)ortion  to 
the  amount  of  sales  of  the  public  lands  within  the  diflerent  States'?  Is  it  not  guarantied  to  the 
States  by  the  compact  under  which  they  became  members  of  the  Union?  And  have  they  not 
received  it  from  the  first  day  of  their  admission  as  States?  Keally,  Mr.  Chairman,  these  apolo¬ 
gies  are  rather  too  shallow  to  deserve  serious  notice.  But,  sir,  after  all,  the  friends  of  the  Ad¬ 
ministration  are  somewhat  excusable  for  these  attempts  at  subteri'uge  and  evasion.  They  are 
sorely  pressed  by  many  searching  inquiries.  The  stern  gaze  of  the  people  is  at  last  directed  to 
their  action,  and  they  are  compelled  to  avail -themselves  of  any  and  every  excuse,  no  matter  how 
pitiable  and  unsatisfactory. 

Sir,  (said  Mr.  P.,)  I  have  touched  these  different  branches  of  ex})enditure  but  slightly;  and  I 
leave  it  with  gentlemen  better  qualified  to  particularize  abuses  and  unjustifiable  expenditure.s. 
I  will  leave  the  subject  by  saying  that,  although  the  expenditure.s  have  increa.sed  nearly  ihree- 
lold,  I  should  not  so  loudly  complain  had  the  money  been  properly  expended.  But,  sir,  it  has 
been  wasted.  Our  fortifications  were  never  in  a  worse  condition.  We  have  scarcely  a  ship  of 
war  fit  for  .sea.  When  the  frigate  United  States  received  some  damage  entering  the  port  of 
New  York,  and  was  condemned  as  unseaworthy  after  an  expenditure  of  some  seventy  thou¬ 
sand  dollar.s,  there  was  not  a  ship  ready  to  receive  her  crew  ;  and  months  passed  before  one 
could  be  fitted  out  to  take  the  place  of  the  condemned  frigate.  We  have  not  a  single  steamship 
of  war  which  deserves  the  name  ;  I  beg  pardon,  sir,  I  believe  there  is  one — the  “  Poinsett” — they 
call  her  a  steam •  frigate  ;  she  is  nothing  but  a  miserable  old  scow.  If  I  am  riglitly  informed,  she. 
used  to  be  employed  somewhere  about  New  York  as  a  ferry-boat ;  was  purchased  at  an  enor 
mous  price  by  the  Administration,  fitted  up,  and  has  cost  near  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

I  am  told  that  it  took  all  hands  (when  serving  in  the  Florida  waters)  two  weeks  to  cut  wood 
enough  to  run  her  three  days.  She  is  now  lying  at  Norfolk,  the  perfect  laughingstock  of  every 
sailor;  but  she  is  reported  to  Congress  as  a  sieam  frigaie.  Really,  sir,  it  is  a  libel  upon  the 
name.  In  short,  sir,  the  money  voted  by  Congress  within  a  few  years  past,  for  harbors,  for 
light-houses,  for  breakwaters,  for  clearing  out  of  rivers,  has  nearly  all  been  wasted,  foolishly 
thrown  away,  by  the  mismanagement  and  extravagance  of  the  Administration.  The  searching 
question  of  the  people  is,  “  Where  is  our  money  ?”  The  laconic  answer  is.  Millions  have  been 
stolen  ;  millions  squandered  ;  millions  unaccounted  for. 

But  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  not  content  with  glorifying  the  Administration,  has  thought 
it  necessary  to  charge  us  with  making  unprovoked  attacks  upon  the  President  and  his  friends, 
and,  in  a  tone  of  triumph,  has  defied  us  to  prove  any  act  of  malfeasance  or  misfeasance.  Sir,  I 
meet  the  challenge,  and  I  will  prove,  from  under  the  gentleman’s  oron  signature,  charges  made 
by  him  against  the  present  Administration  sufficient  to  blast  the  fair  fame  of  any  party.  T  shall 
refer,  sir,  to  report  No.  313  of  House  of  Representatives,  commonly  called  the  report  of  the  Investi¬ 
gating  Committee  on  the  defalcation  of  Swartw'out  and  others.  7'he  gentleman  from  Virginia  was 
a  member  of  that  committee,  and  although  he  did  not  .sign  the  report  with  the  majority,  he  made 
a  special  report  to  which  he  affixed  his  signature.  I,  sir,  shall  not  at  this  time  enter  into  an  ex¬ 
amination  of  the  merits  of  the  document.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  know  that  the  gentleman’s 
name  is  signed  to  it.  The  following  is  the  special  report  of  the  gentleman,  and  as  he  complains 
that  it  is  unfair  to  give  extracts,  I  will  give  it  entire : 

»'  Mr.  Hopkinses  special  concurrence  in  the  report  of  the  commillee,  appended  thereto  by  vote  of  the  committee . 

“  I  have  not  liad  the  requi.sit.e  lime  for  scruiinizins:  the  report  of  the  committee  with  that  care  amt  altention  whicti 
its  length  and  importance  deserve,  and  which  I  could  have  desired  ;  and  I  should  have  preferred,  for  this  reason,  to 
have  presented  the  journal  of  the  committee,  without  comment,  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Rut,  as  conflict¬ 
ing  opinions  prevail  in  the  committee,  and  are  to  be  submitted  to  the  country  in  the  shape  of  formal  reports,  I  con 
aider  it  my  clniy  to  say  that  I  concur  with  the  committee  in  all  the  conclusions  at  which  they  have  arrived,  so  far  as 
those  conclusions  apply  to  the  extent  and  character  of  the  defalcations  of  Samuel  Swarwoui  and  William  M.  Price. 

“  [  should  be  faithless  to  my  duty,  and  do  violence  to  the  most  conscientious  convictions  of  my  judgment,  if  I  did 
not  also  declare  my  entire  concurrence  in  those  conclusions  of  the  committee  which  relate  to  the  conduct  of  the 
late  naval  officer  of  the  cnstom-liouse  at  New  York  ;  to  the  late  and  present  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  ;  to  the  Secre- 
tary  and  accounting  officers  of  the  Treasury  Department,  including  the  late  Comptroller  of  that  Department ;  and. 
in  that  part  of  the  report  which  reviews  the  conduct  of  J.  Hoyt,  the  present  collector  of  the  customs  at  the  port  of 
New  York.  G.  W.  HOPKINS,  Member  of  the  Committee. 

Now,  Mr.  Cbairman,  we  find  by  this  report  tliat  the  gentleman  concurs  fully  in  the  censure  of 
the  committee,  passed  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  and,  that  there  may  be  no  doubt  on 
the  subject,  I  will  read  what  is  said  by  the  committee — page  98; 

“  The  committee  will  forbear  to  recapitulate  here  the  extraordinary  stibmissiveness  and  want  of  energy  that  are 
betrayed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  his  tolerance,  without  known  complaint  made  to  the  Executive,  of 
the  retention  and  use  of  the  public  money  collected  by  the  present  collector  at  New  York  for  duties  on  imports 
against  and  under  the  protests  of  merchants.” 

Again,  sir,  upon  the  same  page,  the  committee  further  say  ; 


12 


“  It.  is  belipvetl  to  coiisiitnte  an  imbecililu  of  culmviislralion  on  the  part  of  the  Secretary  that  calls  fi'r  irr.niccliate 
correction,  whether  reaard  be  had  to  the  honor  of  the  Government  or  to  the  security  of  the  publfc  money.” 

And  furlhcT,  sir,  the  report  says: 

“  The  ncaligence  -iuid  failure  of  tlie  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  discharge  liis  duty  as  the  head  of  the  Treasury 
Dojiartnient.  cdiarged  by  law  willi  the  superintondpin  e  of  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  his  want  ot  a  correct 
appreciation  of  Urn  beforenainod  records  in  the  superintendence  of  the  collection  cd  the  public  revemtes,  and  the 
i-.onsenuent  noelect  to  continue  a,nd  complete  them,  are  justly  regarded  as  a  jtrimary  cause  of  tlte  escape  from  detec¬ 
tion,  fur  so  long  a  [leriod,  of  the  immense  dtlalcations  of  the  late  “col  lector  at  the  port  of  New  York.” 

Here,  sir,  is  a  direct  assertion  made  by  the  gentleman  himself,  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas¬ 
ury  has  manifested  “ extraordinary  submissiveness”  and.  “want  of  energy;”  that  he  Iras  been 
guilty  of  ^f  rabcdliii/ of  administration  ”  and  that  such  conduct  requires  immediate  eorrec- 
iion  'r  tintl  further,  sir,  that  the  Secretary,  by  his  “negligence  and  failure  to  discharge  bis  duty,” 
is  diteclly  responsible  for  the  immense  defalcalion  of  Swartwout,  araounling  to  one  milLion  and 
a  quarter  of  dollass. 

Sir,  where  is  this  “ imbecile  Secretary  1”  Has  he  been  dismissed  by  the  Executive'?  Has 
even  an  inquiry  lieon  made  by  this  House  into  these  grave  charges  preferred  by  the  committee? 
No,  sir!  no!  The  same  negligent,  imbecile,  criminal  Secretary  still  presides  over  the  'i'reasury 
Department.  Instead  of  having  been  discarded,  as  the  gentleman  said  he  should  he,  he  is  the 
jrampered  pet  of  the  .Executive,  and  the  gentleman  from  \  irginia  is  now  as  loud  in  his  praise  as 
he  was  in  his  denunciation;  and  he  has  the  assurance  lo  lecture  the  Opposition  for  complaining 
of  this  gross  outrage  perpetrated  on  the  character  and  honor  of  the  Government  which  he  him¬ 
self  assisted  in  exposing. 

But,  sir,  the  committee  may  check  the  expression  of  astonishment  which  at  this  time  seems 
so  sensibly  to  pervade  it.  I  have  but  commenced  v\ith  the  gentleman’s  consistency. 

On  page  41  of  the  report  I  find  the  fidlowing  charges  made  by  the  gentleman  against  the  late 
naval  officer  of  the  custom-house,  New  York,  (Enos  'I'.  Throop:) 

“  From  the  preceding  testimony,  the  committee  report  as  established  facts  : 

“1.  'I'ha.t  the  late  naval  officer  at  the  port  of  New  York,  throughout  the  term  of  his  service,  from  1S~9  to  ISCS, 
wliolly  disrecarded  the  reriuirernents  uf  the  law  prescribing  the  dutif  s  of  his  office. 

“2.  That  said  naval  officer,  for  the  same  period,  wholly  disregarded  the  instructions  of  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  uf  November  10,  1S21. 

‘■3.  That  said  naval  (fficer,  tty  so  disregarding  the  rcaiuircments  of  law  and  the  instructions  of  the  Treasury  De¬ 
partment,  culpably  neglected  to  keep  the  accounts  and  records  appertaining  lo  iiis  offic  ,  and  thereby  rendered  the 
office  micatory  as  a  clieck  upon  the  accounts  of  tlie  collector. 

“  4.  That  if  the  duties  of  said  naval  officer,  as  authorized  and  direcieu  by  existing  laws,  had  been  executed  with 
proper  care  and  vigilance,  they  would  have  rendered  it  impracticalrle  for  any  fraud  or  error  in  any  of  the  accrauits 
of  tlie  collector  of  said  port  to  escape,  immediate  detection. 

‘‘5.  That  tire  culpable  disregard  of  lire  plain  requirements  of  law  and  of  Treasury  instructions  prescribing  the 
duties  uf  naval  officers,  by  said  iraval  officf  r,  and  his  continued  neglect  of  official  duly,  are  a  la-imary  cause  of  tlte 
immense  defalcations  uf  ihc  late  collector  at  .•  ew  York.” 

Here,  sir,  is  a  charge  made  again.st  ibis  ollicer  by  the  genllemaii  from  Virginia,  Vhere,  sir, 
is  this  same  Enos  T.  'Jliroop?  Ha.s  b.e  been  dismissed  from  the  service  of  the  country  ?  No, 
sir!  This  man,  who  was  proved  to  be  incomjx4ei)t  to  act  as  naval  officer f  instead  of  being 
innnediatelv  discharged,  as  he  wmuld  have  been  by  any  honest  Executive,  has  been  sent  as 
Charge  to  Naples.  Unfit  to  discharge  tlie  duty  of  a  subordinate  in  a  cu.stom-house,  he  is  fully 
qualified  to  serve  as  a  minister  of  this  great  nation  at  a  foreign  Court.  And  the  gentleman  from 
Virginia,  who  so  recently  demanded  his  dismissal,  lauds  the  Executive,  and  vows  that  this  is  a 
most  virtuous  and  pure  Administration,  and  tauntingly  sneers  at  us  as  a  fault-finding  Opposition, 

Again,  sir:  on  page  105,  the  (^ommitloe  of  Investigation,  after  citing  repeated  instances  of 
neglect  in  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  to  di.scharge  bis  dt.ty,  report: 

“  1st.  That  William  M.  Price,  as  district  attorney,  is  a  defuidltr  lo  tlie  Government  in  a  large  amount. 

“  2d.  Tliat  his  defalcalion.s  are  auribuialde  to  the  notorious  irresponsibility  and  want  rf  character  cf  said  Price  at 
the  periods  of  liis  appoinlmom  and  rrappoinUnont,  and  iluring  his  entire  terms  of  otlice ;  and  to  the  evnlitnud.  neg¬ 
lect  of  tka  ■proper  and  cficicnt  discharge  of  duties  at  the  ojffice  of  the  Solicitor  of  the  'I’l  eusumj,  bp  the  lute  and 
present  incumbents  of  that  oficcJ' 


Again,  1  ask  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  lias  this  officer  been  dismissed  from  the  service  of  the 
State  ?  Has  the  Executive  discharged  that  duty,  which  the  gentleman  deemed  so  imperative 
when  he  .signed  his  riport  ?  No,  sir.  'This  man  who  neglected  his  duty,  violated  his  oath  of 
ofTicc,  and  permitted  an  immense  defalcation,  has  been  sent  as  Charge  d'aifiiircs  to  Belgium  ? 
Neglect  of  duty  is  now  the  sure  road  to  preferment.  Iml  a  man  manifest  palpable  incompetoncy 
as  Solicitor  of  the  'I’rcasary,  and  lie  is  immediately  inade  a  fortdgn  mini.ster.  I,  sir,  will  not  at¬ 
tempt  to  express  my  astonishment  at  the  course  ])ursued  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia.  He 
proves  that  Mr.  V^an  Buren  has  violated  every  tm.-rT  reposed  in  liiin  by  the  people,  not  only  by 
continuing  unfaithful  men  in  otfice,  but  by  jjromoiintf  them  for  their  misconduct,  lie  then, 
most  unexpectedly,  becomes  his  champion  anil  eulogist,  and  petulantly  complains  that  w’c  are 
over-nice  in  our  demands  for  correct  Government. 


Page  140,  the  gentleman  is  loud  in  his  denunciations  of  Mr.  Hoyt,  collector  at  New  York; 
thinks  his  conduct  unjustifiable;  and  yet,  sir,  Mr.  Hoyt  is  still  collector;  and  the  gentleman 
now  preaches  to  wi  passive  obedience.  Page  ?0,  we  find  the  committee  saying  that. 


From  the  preceding  evidence  the  corninitlee  rey>ort  the  following  fact  as  established  : 

“That  the  late  Foniptroller  of  tlie  Treasury,  George  Wolf,  Fsq.,  now  collccter  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia, 


13 


was  truilly,  while  in  said  office  of  Comptroller,  of  oilpable  disregard  of  law  and  neglect  of  diity,  both  in  regard  tO' 
the  bonds  of  C(dleclors  filed  in  his  office,  and  the  records  thereof  required  by  law;  and  in  settling  and  ccrtiiyine:  to 
the  Ileaister  the  accounts  of  Sanuiel  Swartwout,  late  collector,  without  having  transmitted  to  him  the  vo'uchers 
therefor  required  by  positive  injunction  of  law.” 

I  will  Ireacl  lightly  here,  sir.  This  oflicer  is  now  no  nittre.  But,  sir,  after  this  dowuirighl 
charge  of  “culpable  disregard  of  law,”  made  by  tiie  gentleman  from  Virginia,  this  oflicer,  who 
had  negUteted  Iris  duty  and  violated  all  law,  was  ap))ointed  collector  of  customs  at  Philadelphia. 
Unfit  to  be  Comptroller,  he  was  fully  qualilicil  to  superintend  some  hundred.s  of  olficers,  and  to 
receive  millions  of  the  jruldic  money  annually.  , 

Page.  41.  The  P'irst  Auditor  is  denounced  as  negligent  and  incompetent.  Yet  now,  not  a 
word  of  complaint  from  the  gentleman  IVom  Virginia  ;  and  all  thi.s  “  criminal  neglect  and  official 
negligence,”  which  in  1839  appeared  to  the  gentleman  so  unjustifiable,  so  monstrous,  is,  in  1840, 
quite  innocent,  very  excusable,  and  entirely  unworthy  of  serious  consideration.  This  i.s,  in¬ 
deed,  a  change  of  opinion.  Ldf^t  year,  to  denounce  tire  Administration,  sub-Treasury  and  all  : 
this  year,  to  support  ij.  warmly,  and  its  darling  sub-Treasury  too.  T  know,  sir,  that  with  some 
politicians  it  becomes  necessai'y  to  alter  their  opinion.s;  and  thi.s  change  of  the  gentleman  recall.s 
to  my  recollection  a  passage  I  once  read  in  one  of  Bulwer’s  works,  in  wiiich  the  politic  courtier 
finds  it  necessary  to  change  his  opinions  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  the  shifting  policy  of  the 
Court. 

“Well!  T  have  decided  on  my  change  of  life,”  said  the  lawyer,  with  a  slight  sigh. 

“So  have  I  on  my  change  of  ojhnion,”  chimed  in  the  Earl.  “  1  will  tell  you  what  opinions  seem  to  me  like” — 

“  What  t”  said  B’randoru 

“  Trees !”  answered  Maulevprer,  quaintly  ;  “  if  they  can  be  made  serviceable  by  standing,  don’t  part  with  a  slick  ; 
t>ut  wlion  they  are  of  that  growth  that  sells  well,  or  whenever  they  shut  out  a  fine  prospect,  cut  them  down  and  pack 
them  off  by  all  manner  of  means.” 

1,  Mr.  Chairman,  shall  not  inquire  a.s  to  the  causes  which  leu  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  to 
this  sudden,  startling,  and  mysterious  change  in  his  political  opinions.  I  am  not  even  inquisi¬ 
tive  or  interested  enough  to  inquire  whether  his  former  opinions  shut  out  a  fine  prospect.  It  is 
sufficient  for  me  to  know  that  he  has  cut  them  all  down,  d’lre  reason  is  with  himself.  But, 
sir,  he  will  excuse  me  when  I  say,  that  I  think  it  in  bad  taste  for  him  to  criticise  too  narrowly 
the  ground  we  tread,  when  he  so  recently  taught  us  that  it  was  our  duty  to  walk  it  fearlessly,  as 
being  the  path  of  rectitude  and  honor.  When  the  gentleman  shall  favor  u.s  with  a  clew  to  the 
labyrinlh,  the  mazes  of  which  he  is  threading,  and  shall  give  us  something  like  convincing  proof 
that  he  pursues  its  tortuous  windings,  not  from  personal  aggrandizement  or  ambitious  aspira¬ 
tions,  then,  sir,  we  may  again,  with  indulgent  eye,  look  upon  his  course.  Until  then,  sir,  (he 
gentleman  must  excuse  us  if  we  look  suspiciously  on  his  advice,  and  distrustingly  upon  the  j)o- 
sition  he  has  assumed.  I  will,  Mr.  (Jhairman,  give  one  other  extract  from  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  which  the  gentleman  was  a  zealous  member,  and  then  leave  it  to  the  gentleman  to 
reconcile  the  opinions  then  expressed  with  his  present  course. 

“But,  the  imptntanl  results  which  have  tieen  attained,  notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  adverted  to,  cannot  fail 
to  inspire  the  country  with  a  contident  hope  that  the  higli  obligation  which  will  rest  upon  ihesucce.ssors  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  Congress  in  the  legislative  councils  of  the  iiaiion,  to  resume  and  complete  the  great  work  of  investigation  and 
reform  of  the  alarming  condition  and  abuses  of  the  Executive  Departments  of  the  Government,  from  the  higJiest  to 
the  lowcvsi,  and  from  Che  nearest  to  the  remotest  functionaries,  wall  secure  the  prompt  and  efficient  allention  which 
its  magnitude  demands. 

“Guided  solely  by  the  characler  of  the  developments  which  the  investigation  impc'sed  upon  them  by  the  House 
has  elicited,  the  con'uniuee  cannot  resist  the  conviction,  tliai  at  no  period  in  the  iiisiory  of  the  P'ed.''ral  Government 
has  there  been  deeper  or  better  founded  cause  than  exists  at  the  jaesenl  moment  for  every  patriot  heart  to  desire  a 
prompt  consummation  of  that  signal  ‘  task  ofi  refiorm'  v  htch  public  sentiineui,  mu.ny  years  since,  inscribed  on 
the  list  of  Executive  duties  in  characters  too  legible  lobe  overlooked,  requiring,  ‘  particularly,  the  correction  of 
those  abtisps  that  have  brought  the  pair  iiage  of  the  f'ederal  Government  into  conflict  with  the  fr'e  doni  of  elections, 
and  the  counteraction  of  those  causes  ichich  have  disturbed.  Ihe  rightful  course  of  apjioini'metit,  and  have  placed 
or  continued  pozeer  in  unfaithful  or  incompetent  hands.’  ” 

We  here  read  of  the  obltgatiox  which  rests  upon  this  Congress  “  to  resume  and  eomplete  ihe 
great  icork  of  investigation ,  reform  ofi  the  alarnimg  condition  and  abuses  of  the  Executive  De- 
parimenfs  of  the  Government,^’  and  yet,  sir,  thegenileman  has  not  only  neglected  to  “resume  and 
complete”  the  work  he  commenced,  hut  has  joined  the  party  which  permitted  and  counten.anccd 
these  abuse.5,  and  now  refuses  to  grant  investigation.  We  also  read,  “  that  at  no  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Federal  Govemmenf’  has  there  existed  so  much  necessity  for  every  patriot  heart 
to  rally  totlie  rescue  of  the  country;  and  yet,  sir,  the  gentleman,  instead  of  fighting  under  our  glo¬ 
rious  and  bright  banner  of  reform,  has  rallied  under  llie  black  piratical  flag  of  Van  Burenism.  Sir, 
said  Mr.  Phoffit,  I  take  no  pleasure  in  criticising  the  course  of  any  gentleman  ;  I  know  the 
fallibility  of  human  nature.  I  regret  being  compelled  to  show  to  my  fellow-citizens  the  corrup¬ 
tions  of  their  Government.  I  regret  that  this  corruption  exists.  I  am  sorry  that  the  necessity  is  forced 
upon  me  to  take  any  thing  like  a  yirominent  ])osition  in  denouncing  the  conduct  of  the  Adminis¬ 
tration,  I  know  that  a  faithful  discharge  of  duty  will  draw  down  tiie  execrations  and  base  cal¬ 
umnies  of  the  Administration  presses — our  motives  will  be  impugned  ;  public  course  misrepre¬ 
sented  ;  private  character  assailed;  “life’s  life  lied  away.”  But,  sir,  I,  for  one,  will  pursue 
my  course  with  the  same  defying  spirit  which  animated  the  poet  when  he  exclaimed — 


14 


‘‘  As  liUle.  as  the  moon  stops  for  the  baying 
Of  wolves,  will  the  bright  muse  withdraw  one  ray 
From  out  her  skies.  Then  howl  your  idle  wrath  ! 

While  she  still  silvers  o’er  your  gloomy  path.” 

[Mr.  PuoFrtT  then  piroceeded  to  defend  General  Harrison  from  the  chargee  and  insinuationa 
made  against  him  by  j\ir.  Hopkins,  both  in  his  spjeech  and  in  his  letter  to  Colonel  Piper.  Mr- 
P.  read  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  General  Harrison  when  in  Congress,  from  his  published 
letters.  He  referred  to  his  votes  to  disprove  the  statements  of  .Mr.  Hopkins.  This  part  of  Mr* 
/h’s  speech  will  be  published  at  some  future  day.] 


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